Calculating Pressure for Candle Compression

  • Thread starter Thread starter irish_enginee
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Compression
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around calculating the pressure required for rotary compression in making tea candles with specific dimensions. The user initially calculated a pressure of 2525 kPa but received feedback indicating errors in their volume calculations and unit usage. The corrected volumes for the melted and compressed wax were provided, leading to a revised pressure of 252 kPa. Participants questioned the assumption that candle wax is significantly compressible and discussed the purpose of compression, suggesting it may be to eliminate air pockets rather than to compress the wax itself. The conversation emphasizes the importance of accurate calculations and understanding the material properties involved in the candle-making process.
irish_enginee
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hi doing a group project on making tea candles! Silly topic but anyway...

my part is to calculate the pressure needed to make a candle and having trouble with the calculations...

final dimension needs to be a 38mm diameter and 16mm height

using rotary compression to do this... candle wax comes in and candle comes out...

here is what i have done yet answer seems extreme, any advice would be great !

oh and have attached a word file with sketch and solid works screen capture so hopefully the whole thing makes some sense!

my workings

assume height of 40mm of wax will drop to give 16mm when compressd

therefore volume of melted wax is

V1=∏r^2 h liquid
=∏(0.019)^2 (0.04)
=0.001134m^2

V2==∏r^2 h compressed
=∏(0.019)^2 (0.016)
=0.00002166m^2

P1V1=P2V2
(101000)(0.001134)=(P2)(0.00002144)
therefore P2=2525kPa

i not really too sure what to think of this value?

not even too sure if i have gone about it in the right way

any help would be great!

oh and can't attach the word file as its too big!
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
irish_enginee: The answers you typed in post 1 do not match the equations you typed above the answers. It appears you did not check your calculations. And volume has units of m^3, not m^2. Try it again, and check your calculations multiple times. By the way ...

  1. Always leave a space between a numeric value and its following unit symbol. E.g., 38 mm, not 38mm. See the international standard for writing units[/color] (ISO 31-0[/color]).

  2. For long numbers having five or more digits, the international standard says you can write the digits in groups of three, separated by spaces. E.g., 0.000 045 365 m^3, instead of 0.000045365 m^3.
I was not even aware liquid wax is significantly compressible. Perhaps it contains a lot of air?
 
Hi thanks for reply, sorry for mistakes. Think they are corrected below

I was thinking that liquid wax would contain lots of air too but would compressing it significantly not remove the air? Hence just leaving a solid candle?

"Hi doing a group project on making tea candles! Silly topic but anyway...

my part is to calculate the pressure needed to make a candle and having trouble with the calculations...

final dimension needs to be a 38mm diameter and 16mm height

using rotary compression to do this... candle wax comes in and candle comes out...

here is what i have done yet answer seems extreme, any advice would be great !

oh and have attached a word file with sketch and solid works screen capture so hopefully the whole thing makes some sense!

my workings

assume height of 40mm of wax will drop to give 16mm when compressd

therefore volume of melted wax is

V1=∏r^2 h liquid
=∏(0.019)^2 (0.04)
=0.000045364 m^3

V2==∏r^2 h compressed
=∏(0.019)^2 (0.016)
=0.000018145 m^3

P1V1=P2V2
(101000)(0.000045364)=(P2)(0.000018145) aside:101000 taken as atmospheric
therefore P2=252 kPa

i not really too sure what to think of this value?

not even too sure if i have gone about it in the right way

any help would be great!

oh and can't attach the word file as its too big!"
 
As an engineer I feel compelled to ask what value is added by calculating this
 
I have attached the general process i hope to use draw in a paint file

Also attached a screen shot of the unfinished process in solid works

Hope its clear

My problem is the candle wax will need to be compressed, yet not too sure how to calculate it

My calculation above is probably totally wrong but a push in the right direction would be great!
 
pictures should now be attached
 

Attachments

  • Untitled.jpg
    Untitled.jpg
    6.7 KB · Views: 455
  • Untitled2.jpg
    Untitled2.jpg
    18.5 KB · Views: 494
From your calculations it appears that you are making an assumption that candle wax is a gas, and for the life of me cannot understand why you would do so. Is the compression prcocess an actual compression, or is it done to ensure that the wax is in the shape of the walls of the container with no air pockets in the finished candle,
 
Last edited:
Back
Top